What Was Missing
by aguiltyconscience
Summary: Summary: This episode was just destined to be the inspiration for a Bubbline fanfic. What would have happened if Marceline had followed Bubblegum after she left in a fury? How would our favorite Vampire Queen have handled it?


**Author's Note:**It's finals week and I do not want to study, so...Returning to an old story we'll see how this goes!

Chapter 1: What Was Wrong?

Marceline watched Princess Bubblegum storm away as tears of anger filling her eyes. She knew that she shouldn't have done it, but she couldn't help it. After all fights with the princess always escalated quickly. There was something about the Candy Kingdom ruler that made her tick. Was it because she felt inferior to her? Marceline didn't know, but she knew that she couldn't think about it anymore.

She hissed in annoyance as she began to float away from Finn and Jake. They were still watching the princess storm off toward the door left open from when they had been chasing the Doorlord.

"Whatever! Ugh! I'm outta here too!"

The vampire queen ignored Finn's protests as she followed Bubblegum back to her house. She wasn't about to let her win their argument…she wasn't perfect. The brunette watched the princess retreat through the door, and she sped up once she noticed that Bubblegum was trying to shut it. She reached the door just in time to push it open and surprise the princess at the same time.

The other girl stopped for a moment startled by the sudden appearance of her friend, but then she just glared at the brunette as she turned on her heels with a huff.

"What do you want, Marceline!?"

Said girl just responded with a growl as she pushed her way through the door, slamming it shut behind her as she watched Bubblegum continue to walk away from her. She was fully prepared to just let the other girl have it, scream at her until her voice was hoarse, tell her how perfect she was and how she always judged other people. Hell maybe she would even spit on her again, but when the princess turned around to face her still scowling Marceline lost it.

Much to her surprise Marceline didn't yell back a retort like Bubblegum had been expecting. In fact she didn't even look angry. Instead her friend looked defeated, her gaze fell to the ground and tears threatened to fill her eyes once again. This didn't go unnoticed by Bubblegum who at this rate had made it all the way to the door before she stopped to see the expression on her friend's face. It confused her and almost made her feel guilty for being so harsh, but she wasn't the only one to blame. Was she..?

"I'm sorry, Bonnie,"

The apology threw her off and she just stared at the brunette for a moment. Marceline was still staring at the floor, but the princess could tell that she was getting antsy, she began to kick at the air with her feet, and she was on the verge of peeking up at Bubblegum multiple times. She sighed in defeat, she wasn't just going to leave the brunette hanging, but she was still steaming as she offered,

"It's okay, the spit will come out,"

Marceline couldn't help but smile at this but as she looked up to see Bubblegum looking at her with a small smile, her frown returned. She hated admitting that she was wrong, but at a time like this it was the only thing she could do to make amends. Marceline rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly as she began to float toward Bubblegum clearly embarrassed.

"Not just that, I mean-there's so much I need to apologize for," Surprisingly enough the vampire queen's gaze didn't return to the ground, instead she made a conscious effort to maintain eye contact with the ever-confused princess. She couldn't move as she watched her friend close the distance between them continually apologizing for things that Bubblegum hadn't even realized she's done.

"I just couldn't stand the idea of you pushing me away, I know I'm not perfect, but I wanted to be—because I knew you wanted me to be,"

Marceline's pained expression was almost too much for Bubblegum to bear as she saw how much she had hurt the other girl. The princess had never really seen herself as someone who belittled others for being inferior in intellect or just in general, but that was exactly what she'd been doing. The ruler didn't notice how she had distanced herself from Marceline until the brunette pointed it out. She hadn't meant to hurt her friend, but as she watched her stand before her with tear-filled eyes, it was clear that she had.

"Marceline, I-" Bubblegum was at a loss she didn't know what she could say that would possibly make up for what she'd done to the brunette. She stopped and Marceline just continued to pour out her soul to the princess, she couldn't stop herself.

"I just wanted you to like me, even if I'm not like you. I wanted a chance to be respected."

Bubblegum frowned a little at this not even hesitating as she walked forward and wiped away the tears that were falling from Marceline's eyes. She did respect Marceline, a lot more than she was willing to admit and it was because of the very reasons the other girl thought she disliked her. Bubblegum struggled putting this into words as the brunette met her gaze with sad eyes.

_Why am I not enough for you?_

The question was one that had been nagging Marceline for as long as she could remember. Since first meeting the other girl, she had felt inferior to and looked down upon by the genius ruler of the Candy Kingdom, the highly venerated and unerring Princess Bubblegum. She was merely one among hundreds of people that admired the princess, and fawned over her like a suitor that waited in a stagnant line just to get a chance to meet her. What made her any different from them? Why should Bubblegum see her any differently?

Sure she had managed to befriend the princess, honestly she wasn't sure how she had done it, but still she had gotten to form a friendship that was now what? Marceline couldn't even figure that out. What had started as a friendly rivalry had now turned into constantly putting the other person down for no real reason other than to justify their own feelings of incompetence. Neither of them claimed to be perfect, but that was all they saw the other as.

"I've always respected you, Marceline, and I've always liked you."

The brunette's head shot up at this as she looked at the now blushing princess. Confusion was visible in the vampire queen's countenance, but Bubblegum's next statement only exacerbated this feeling.

"It's just taken me a while to be able to place those feelings," the ambiguous statement confused Marceline, but she couldn't ignore the twinge of hope she felt that made her look Bubblegum in the eyes questioningly. _Could it be..?_ The vampire queen just looked at the princess curiously unsure of the other girl's meaning. She waited for Bubblegum to gather the courage to speak, the lump in her throat was bothering her, but she wouldn't let it stop her. Bubblegum took a deep breath and prepared herself for the disappointment she was almost certain was going to follow what she said next. Marceline just waited, but she was no longer floating, she touched her feet to the ground and stood impossibly close to Bubblegum as if it was the only way she would be able to hear what she had to say. The pair waited in agonizing silence, but then she said something that made the brunette's knees go weak,

"I love you,"

The words were muttered under her breath but Marceline heard them almost as if they were shouted. The three words echoed her head over and over until Marceline realized that Bubblegum was still talking. Although the words she spoke were barely audible and hardly coherent, they troubled Marceline as they seemed to never end.

"I'm sorry-I shouldn't- I have not ide—I really shouldn't hav—I hope this doesn—"The vampire queen cut her off as she grabbed hold of the other girl's hand. Gazing into her eyes she could tell how worried the princess was, but seeing this only made her feel more relieved. As guilty as she felt thinking it, Marceline was happy to see that she wasn't the only one suffering from this relationship. She cared for the princess more than she could put into words and seeing her torment only convinced her that she truly felt the same way.

Bubblegum looked at Marceline confusedly as she began to pull her closer a small smile tugging at her lips,

"Change anything? If that's what you were going to say, I hate to tell you," The brunette paused as she brought her hand to the other girl's face gently taking hold of her chin as she brought her mouth to hers. Bubblegum's eyes widened in shock but she didn't protest as her friend closed the distance between them.

"It changes everything."


End file.
